Plenty of Pawlenty

The so-called “veepstakes” bore me. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty does not. I need to learn more about him before making a fully informed judgment, but stuff like this sparks my interest:

Gov. Pawlenty suggested Republicans occasionally have done a poor job of addressing growing economic anxiety among many blue-collar and middle-class voters. He had earlier used the term “Sam’s Club Republicans” to describe such people, who roughly correspond to the Reagan Democrats of the 1980s …

Gov. Pawlenty’s own life story helps explain his Reagan Democrat views. His family was based in St. Paul, where his father drove a truck and several siblings held union jobs.

And why does that stir my conservative-leaning soul? Ironically, a former GWB adviser (quoted in the same article linked above) nails the answer:

“I think the prevailing people or school will be those who are able to articulate the time-honored principles of conservatism … but can also advance a reform agenda and speak to the relatively new issues that now dominate American politics,” said Peter Wehner, a former Bush administration political adviser. “It’ll require a hybrid.”

Sounds familiar.